Wakilii

Rukanyangira and 2 Others v Uganda (Criminal Miscellaneous Application 58 of 1993)

High Court · [1994] UGHC 75 · 1994 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Bail application in a criminal matter where applicants had been charged with murder, previously granted bail, and then remanded again after defaulting
Decision
Applicants remain in custody pending committal to High Court for trial

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Application for bail dismissed. Although applicants had been on remand for fifteen months, they had a previous record of jumping bail in the same case. The two sureties offered were insufficient for three accused persons charged with murder, particularly where the sureties would reside in Kampala while the applicants would live approximately 35-40 miles away in Mawokota. The court was not satisfied that the applicants would not abscond if released on bail.

Outcome

Applicants remain in custody pending committal to High Court for trial

Facts

Three applicants were charged with murder and remanded in custody in 1986. They were released on bail on 18 January 1988. They subsequently defaulted and their bail was cancelled by the High Court on 16 November 1992, when they were remanded in custody again. By February 1994, they had been on remand for fifteen months without being committed to the High Court for trial. They applied jointly for bail under section 14A of the Trial on Indictments Decree, each filing affidavits admitting they had been remanded a second time. Two sureties were produced: John Baptist Chemba, a building technician working in Kampala and residing at Kasubi, and John B. Muturuza, an accountant working in Kampala with a home in Mawokota near the applicants' homes. When re-arrested in November 1992, the applicants admitted having jumped bail.

Issues

  1. Whether exceptional circumstances existed to warrant granting bail to applicants who had previously jumped bail.
  2. Whether the sureties provided were sufficient to ensure the applicants' return to court.

Orders

  • Application for bail dismissed.
  • Director of Public Prosecutions directed to commit the accused persons to the High Court for trial as soon as possible.

Rules and key headnotes

Bail — Application — Factors to consider — Previous default
Where applicants for bail have a previous record of jumping bail in the same case, the court must be satisfied that they will not abscond if bail is granted, and the fact of previous default weighs against granting bail even where other conditions for bail are met.
Bail — Sureties — Adequacy — Number and proximity to accused
In a murder case where three accused persons seek bail and have previously jumped bail, two sureties who would reside in a different location approximately 35-40 miles from where the accused would live if released are insufficient to assure the court that the accused will not abscond.
Bail — Exceptional circumstances — Extended remand period
An accused person who has been on remand for fifteen months without being committed for trial satisfies the requirement of exceptional circumstances under section 14A(2)(b) of the Trial on Indictments Decree, but this does not automatically entitle them to bail if the court is not satisfied they will not abscond under section 14A(1)(b).

Legislation cited (1)

  • Trial on Indictments Decree s.14A

Full judgment

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The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.

Rukanyangira and 2 Others v Uganda (Criminal Miscellaneous Application 58 of 1993) [1994] UGHC 75 (11 March 1994)
Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.